{"id":20730,"date":"2022-06-30T10:31:36","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T00:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/?p=20730"},"modified":"2023-03-15T16:52:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T06:52:33","slug":"leaf-curling-spider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/pest-control-spiders\/leaf-curling-spider\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaf-curling Spider"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

These are one of the most common garden spiders in Australia, but they rarely show their faces. These spiders hide in mid-air, cunningly using leaves, snail shells, or scraps of paper. Would you be able to recognise a leaf-curling spider?<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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Common name: Leaf-curling Spider
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Scientific name(s):\u00a0<\/strong>Phonognatha graeffei<\/em>, in the Araneidae (Orbweaving Spiders). Formerly placed in the Tetragnathidae (Long-jawed Spiders).<\/p>\r\n

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Geographic distribution:\u00a0<\/strong>Common in northeastern, eastern and southern Australian states.<\/p>\r\n

Description:\u00a0<\/strong>Adult males measure 5 mm long, and females approx. 8 mm. Both look very similar, with long, slender reddish-brown legs, and a reddish-brown oval body with a cream coloured pattern on the back.<\/p>\r\n

Unlike most other orb weavers, leaf-curling spider webs are not complete circles, being open at the top and fanning out from the spider\u2019s refuge. The refuge is constructed by the spider lifting a dead leaf into the web, and using tightening silk to curl the leaf into a rough cylinder. If no suitable leaf is available they may use a snail shell or scrap of paper.<\/p>\r\n

The spider will wait at the entrance to the refuge, only the legs exposed and touching the web, waiting for the vibrations of a flying insect stuck in the web.<\/p>\r\n

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Leaf-curling spider, Phonognatha graeffei<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

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Habitat:\u00a0<\/strong>The spider is found in open woodland and forest habitats, as well as urban and suburban gardens. The web is most frequently built among shrubs and other vegetation.<\/p>\r\n

Life-cycle:<\/strong> Unusually for spiders, males and females often share a web before reaching adulthood, living at opposite ends of the refuge. Eggs are hidden in a folded leaf, concealed among foliage away from the web.<\/p>\r\n

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Pest status: <\/strong>The spiders are also predators of flying insects and generally not considered a pest. Bites may cause localised pain and reddening, but are very rare and not considered medically important.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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Treatment:\u00a0<\/strong>No specific treatment is required. Clean and apply ice to bite site.<\/p>\r\n

Back to pest control spiders<\/a> and pther types of spiders<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Daniel Heald<\/strong>, technician and entomologist (image credit: Daniel Heald)<\/p>\r\n

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These are one of the most common garden spiders in Australia, but they rarely show their faces. These spiders hide in mid-air, cunningly using leaves, snail shells, or scraps of paper. Would you be able to recognise a leaf-curling spider?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"These are one of the most common garden spiders in Australia, but they rarely show their faces - would you be able to recognise a leaf-curling spider?","_seopress_robots_index":"","_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[321],"tags":[],"company":[],"pest":[151],"pesticide":[],"product-service":[],"class_list":["post-20730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pest-control-spiders","pest-spiders","wpbf-post"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"company","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/company?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"pest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pest?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"pesticide","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pesticide?post=20730"},{"taxonomy":"product-service","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product-service?post=20730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}